News Updates, 4/15/11

An earthquake (magnitude 5.4) was reported at Hamadori, Fukushima Prefecture on 4/13. No unusual events were reported at any of the nearby nuclear power stations as a result of this.

Injection of fresh water into Units 1-3 continues, and their temperatures continue to drop steadily, while remaining above the level considered to be “cold shutdown”.

The removal of contaminated water from Unit 2 to its condenser for storage was initiated April 12, then stopped April 13, in order to check for leaks. We don’t have word on whether the process has restarted since then or whether any leaks were identified.

After spraying fresh water onto the spent fuel pools of Units 3 and 4, TEPCO collected samples of the water from Unit 4. That water showed much higher than normal quantities of radioactive iodine and cesium isotopes. No other radioisotopes were reported as being observed.

Workers are attempting to minimize discharge of water to the open sea by using steel plates to close off the facility’s seawater intake.

Dose rates to the public at the 30 km from the site continue to vary between 0.1 microsievert/hr and 26 microsievert per hour (in one isolated region, identified by MEXT reading location 32). No further updates on seawater measurements or food products are available since our last post.